


The Darkness Within

by LibrarianWho



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: A lot - Freeform, Anti-Rose-Tyler, Gen, Leads in to another story, because I hate her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 09:33:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7527541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibrarianWho/pseuds/LibrarianWho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor has just said goodbye to Donna Noble. When he sets off into the depths of space again, he finds a certain, not-so-welcome person aboard the TARDIS, one who he's already said farewell to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Darkness Within

**Author's Note:**

> Just a warning, there's a lot of character bashing in this. If you have grown particularly fond of certain characters within Doctor Who, read this with caution.

I saw her flame-red hair as she still chattered on the phone. 

"You can't ever tell her," I murmured, looking back at Wilf.

"No, no, no," the old man replied. "But every night, Doctor, when it gets dark, and the stars come out, I'll look up on her behalf. I'll look up at the sky, and think of you."

I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, and blinked hard to stop them falling. "Thank you. "

Then I turned and splashed through the rain to the TARDIS. As I shut the door, I caught a glimpse of Wilf saluting, but I didn't return the gesture. 

I pulled off my sopping jacket, draped it over a chair, and set the TARDIS off, not knowing or caring where I ended up. I simply stood, braced against the main console, and let my emotions wash over me. 

It really wasn't fair. I'd told myself this many times before, but I felt like this moment took the cake for "Most Unfair Adventure Ever".

I'd nearly lost my best friend and time machine at the hands - err, plungers - of my worst enemy. She'd then accidentally created a murderous clone of myself, who ended up with the girl I'd left alone on a beach two years ago. If I was being honest, this whole thing was Rose's fault anyway; she shouldn't have been jumping between universes. 

But, then Donna's mind had been overloaded with Time Lordyness, and I'd been forced to wipe her memory of any trace of my existence. If she remembered anything of our adventures, her mind would burn. 

I ran a hand through my hair. "Why does nothing ever go right for me?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Why, am I nothing?"

I turned around so quickly I nearly skidded across the floor.

"What? What are you doing here?"

Rose Tyler stood several feet away from the doors, her hand resting on the rails that lead to the main console. She grinned at me, sticking her tongue between her teeth as she so often did. 

"You're not supposed to jump between the universes, Rose, I've already told you. Look what happened last time you did it. "

Her face fell. "Don't bother to say hello, Doctor. And what makes you think that I'm to blame for what happened with the Daleks?"

"Donna told me that you were following her when she had that - that thing on her back. It wasn't hard to work out what you were doing. Jumping between the universes to try and find me. Except - you kept running into Donna, didn't you?" Rose tried to speak, but I continued over the top of her. "You kept running into Donna, and you wanted to find me. And when she told you I was dead, you managed to convince her to kill herself so that she could 'turn left' at an earlier point in time and change history so that we met and I lived. So you could find me, yeah?"

"It was so you could save the earth!" she blurted.

"No, no, don't try and fool me with that," I said. "You were so desperate to be with me at Bad Wolf Bay, you didn't care if it meant destroying two universes, everyone and everything you loved, did you? And when you met Sarah Jane, you couldn't bear the thought of me spending my time with someone other than you."

 

"We were friends in the end!"

"In the end, yes. But if you'd had it your way, she would've been trapped in the school along with the Krillatanes when it blew up." I finally stopped for breath.

Rose stared at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Then a whole stream of swear words spewed out at an alarming rate.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Bloody hell, Doctor! You could at least be fucking happy that I'm bloody well here! But you're so caught up with that bitchy ginger woman that you can't even notice me."

"Don't call her that," I said, gritting my teeth.

"What, a bitchy ginger? That's what she is, isn't she? I try to help her, and all she can do is scream at me," Rose spat.

"Don't call her that!" I raised my hand, and Rose flinched as though I was about to strike her. "Shut up. Just shut up. Why the hell are you here, anyway?"

Rose glared at me. "Because your clone is a pain in the arse. He's like that ginger nob you travel with. Where is she, anyway? Shouldn't she be mooning over you?"

"Gone."

"What?"

"She's gone."

Rose scoffed, and I had to seriously restrain myself from hitting her. "What, did you finally see some sense and throw her out into a collapsing solar system?"

"No, I didn't. Her mind couldn't handle it. Great big universe... packed into her head. I had – I had to erase all of her memories of me."

"All of them?" Oh, she sounded so eager.

"All of them. She can't ever remember, or her mind will burn." The words tasted bitter in my mouth.

"So she's not coming back. That means that we can travel together again!" Rose smiled, looked up at me with her big green eyes.

"No. You shouldn't be here, Rose. I don't know how many times I've told you."

She huffed and leaned against the console. "Oh, you sound like a broken record, Doctor."

You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just tried hotbinding the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary, binary. I'm fine.

"Doctor? DOCTAH."

"What? Oh. I keep repeating myself because you never listen. 'Don't run off, Rose.' You run off. 'Don't save your father, Rose.' You save him. 'Don't touch your younger self, Rose.' You do. 'Don't jump between the universes, Rose.' You jump between the universes, nearly destroy both, cause my best friend to nearly burn her own mind to save us all, and then you have the audacity to swan in, demanding my love and affection, after I've given you what you want."

"But – but – he's not you."

"Oh, for –" I finished my sentence silently, mouthing several swear words. "I'm not getting into this, Rose. Just. Please, get out."

I could see her working up the tears. Her mouth wobbled, her chin wrinkled, and –

a single tear trickled down her cheek.

"Oh, stop it." I grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and pushed her towards the doors.

They opened with a creak. Rose and I both gazed into the inky depths of space. She looked up at me.

"Um... I can't get back. I need you to take me back."

I laughed harshly. "You're kidding me. I told you in Norway, I can't go through properly. The two universes would collapse."

Rose huffed again. "What are we gonna do, then?"

I walked back to the console and started setting a course. "I –" I hit a button and the TARDIS shook to life, sending Rose flying " – am dropping you off on Earth, and you –" Rose regained her footing, only to fall again as the TARDIS jerked " – will do whatever it is you did to skip between the universes in the first place. And when you get back, you won't ever do it again."

"But I can't."

"You're lying."

"But – but – you're – you're my Doctor. You're mine. You're supposed to –"

"Don't you dare call me 'your Doctor' ever again," I said, my voice dangerously low. "I know you're lying, Rose."

The TARDIS shuddered to a halt, and the woman stood. She threw me a dirty look.

"Fine. Just abandon me." She marched to the door and flung it open. "Goodbye, Doctor."

Then she was gone.

The door slammed behind her, and I stared at it for a moment. I shook my head and set the TARDIS off again. The time machine shook for a moment, and I gripped the console. As the shaking stopped, something cold and wet pressed against my back. I looked down.

"Oh." I'd forgotten about my sopping clothes.

I ran to get changed. After redressing in my blue suit, I ran back to the console room.

"See you soon, old girl," I said, and the TARDIS hummed in reply.

I opened the door. A girl looked up at me, her eyes wide. She opened her mouth to scream, but I pressed my finger to her lips before she could.

"Now then. We can't have you screaming that I'm out here, can we?"


End file.
